Safety razor and blade therefor



Aug. 11, 1936. M; H. PAGE 2,050,371

SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE THEREFOR Filed May 7, 1952 l N V EN TOR. 46 Marsha/Ni Page A TTORNE Y.

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Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE THEREFOR Marshall B. Page, Kansas City, Mo.

Application'May 7, 1932, Serial No. 609,892

8 Claims.

My invention relates to safety razors and blades therefor, and particularly to improvements on the type of safety razor shown in my application Serial No. 534,841 filed May 4, 1931, now Patent No. 1,912,720.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide a safety razor having blade holding means and a blade so constructed that the razor will be adapted to shave closely adjacent projecting portions of the features, such as the nose and ears, without interference with such shaving action by projecting portions of the blade holder. Safety razors as ordinarily constructed, are provided with a frame that is of greater width than the length of the cutting edge of the blade. As a result, there are one or more thicknesses of metal interposed between the line that the extreme corners of the blade would follow in moving over the face and the line that the extreme transverse dimension of the blade holder will follow in moving over the face. As a result, it is impossible to get closely adjacent the nose or other projections on the face with the ordinary safety razor.

My improved razor is so made that not only the central portion of the blade can be brought closer to such projections than the majority of safety razors now on the market, but the corner portion of the blade can be brought closer to such projections than is possible of razors that are of a generally rectangular shape and. receiving blades of a generally rectangular shape. Users of safety razors know that it is impossible to shave close to the ears by a mere downward stroke of the razor along the side of the face, and in order to get close to the ear it is necessary to move the razor in substantially a horizontal direction away from the car across the face. This frequently causes a person to cut himself at the point where the ear joins the face. The same difliculty is experienced at the sides of the nose, and there are certain portions of the face that absolutely cannot be properly shaved with a safety razor as ordinarily made that can be shaved with the unguarded or ordinary razor. This is mainly due to the fact that the frame or holder that receives the blade extends considerably beyond the blade at the forward or cutting edge of the blade, and also rearwardly of that point, interfering with the proper manipulation of the razor at points that are hard to reach.

While the exact corners of the blade at the cutting edge cannot be exposed without danger of cutting the face, my improved razor is so made that only a small corner portion of the blade and small corner portions of the blade holder 1project laterally beyond the cutting edge of the lade.

In order to accomplish this purpose I have provided a razor having a blade holder that tapers from front to back thereof so that the widest 5 portion of the blade holder is at the forward corners thereof, or that portion adjacent the cutting edge of the blade when the blade is in position. This purpose of my invention is furthermore carried out by providing a blade that has its portion of maximum transverse dimension at the cutting edge. Some stop means must be provided to limit the forward movement of the blade, and also it is extremely desirable and maintained to be absolutely necessary that the corners of the blade at the opposite ends of the cutting edge portion be protected to prevent injury by contact with said corners. In order to limit the forward movement of the blade and protect the cornersthereof and fix the location of the cutting edge relaive to the guard means provided on the blade holder, I have provided combined stop means and corner protecting means cooperating with the forward corners of the blade.

In order that these protecting means and blade movement limiting means occupy as little space as possible, these are made as small as can possibly be in transverse dimension without detracting from the strength thereof, and would in actual practice be even narrower than shown in the drawing, the width thereof being slightly exaggerated in order that these will properly show up in the drawing. With the corner protecting means made of minimum width, it is necessary that the blades be made accurately for use with my improved blade holder, as any slight projection of the side edge of the blade beyond the corner protecting means would expose the corners, which would be dangerous in use. Preferably, the side edge of the blade and the outer edges of the corner protecting means are in exact alignment.

In order to assure such accuracy, the blades must be made accurately to fit the frame. but these blades must not only be made accurately to fit the frame, but must be located in the frame in such a way that there can be absolutely no shifting of the blade lengthwise of the cutting edge to expose either one or the other corner of the extreme side edge of the corner protecting means. In order to assure such accuracy or alignment of the blade and the holder, I have provided cooperating guide means on the blade and on the holder to positively locate the blade crosswise of the holder or frame. as the fit between the cooperating guide means must be close, it would be somewhat difllcult to assemble the blade with the holder by the ordinary person, as the blade is thin and small, and the guiding means preferably comprises slots in the blade and projections on the holder or frame. which must be engaged with the slots by passing the blade over the projections with the slots in alignment with the projections.

In order to simplify this operation and make it possible to quickly assemble the blade with the holder or frame, I have provided blade directin or locating means for directing the blade into absolutely the proper position relative to the projections so that the blade can be readily moved into cooperating relation to the projections on the holder or frame by any person not particularly skilled in the handling of mechanical devices.

The various blade guiding or locating means are preferably so located in my improved razor that these alllie entirely within the maximum transverse dimension of the blade, and are also preferably spaced back of the cutting edge of the blade so as to not interfere with the movement of the cutting edge of the blade into proper position for shaving at any desired point, no matter how hard it may be to reach with the ordinary razor.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide a razor of the above mentioned character, which is provided with blade holding means of the character of the blade holding means forming the subject-matter of my above mentioned co-peuding application, which enables the blade to be moved into operative position by merely placing it in position on top of the blade holder or frame, the same sliding into operative position when the pivoted member engaging the rear edge of the blade moves the blade forwardly into cutting position, my improved razor holding the blade iry means of the pivotally mounted clamping member engaging the rear edge thereof, and the undercut corner protecting member engaging the forward edge thereof, the blade being free from all projections over the top thereof except for these corner protecting means and the pivoted blade engaging member engaging the rear edge of the blade, and being free to be disengaged by merely tilting the handle to drop the blade out of the frame by releasing the holding lever in the same manner as described in my above mentioned co-pending application.

It is a further purpose of my invention to adapt a safety razor of the above mentioned type to a thin blade, the preferred blade being provided with side edges diverging uniformly from a thin rear edge thereof to the cutting edge providing the portion of maximum diameter of the blade at said cutting edge, and said blade being provided with parallel guide slots therein to accurately position the acute angle corner of the blade at the cutting edge relative to the holder or frame.

It is also a purpose of my invention to provide a blade holder that has reduced portions to provide a narrower portion on the holder than the corresponding portion of the blade, whereby the blade can be readily inserted into position in the blade holder by engaging the finger with the side edges thereof at the point where these side edges would project beyond the holder or frame. Also in case the blade should for any reason, stick in the holder and not drop out by gravity, the same can be readily removed in a similar way without the necessity of engaging with the rear edge thereof or pulling the blade backwardly, as is the case with the majority of safety razors on the market. One of the peculiar advantages of the type of blade forming the subject matter of 5 this invention is that the danger of the fingers slipping along the side edges of the blade when the same are wet and causing the finger to engage with the cutting edge of the blade is reduced materially, if not entirely eliminated, as any slippage of the fingers due to the tapered character thereof, would cause the blade to slip through the fingers toward the rear edge thereof, which is not sharpened, and if for any reason the fingers slipped along said side edges of the blade, the same would slip toward the rear or non-cutting edge, and away from the cutting edge.

It is another purpose of my invention to provide a safety razor that has a head portion or 2 frame portion for holding the blade, that is movable to any angular position relative to the holder or stem portion of the razor, this being accomplished by a universally tiltable connection between the holder and frame or blade holder, which can be clamped tight in any adjusted angular position desired.

It is also a purpose of my invention to provide a styptic pencil or stick in the holder portion of my razor, the handle being provided with a hol- 30 low portion for this purpose and having a detachable cap at the end remote from the head portion of the razor for closing the hollow or chamber that receives the styptic pencil.

Other objects and advantages of my invention 35 will appear as the description of the drawing proceeds. I desire to have it understood, however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular details shown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved razor, showing the blade in position therein.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view thereof, the handle portion being partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is a view partly in section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and partly in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a face view of the blade in position in the razor.

Fig. 6 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. '7 is a top plan view of the blade detachable, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the clamping socket member of the adjustable connection between the frame or holder and the handle of the razor.

Referring in detail to the drawing, my improved razor comprises a handle portion II, 50 which may be made in any desired manner, but which is shown as being knurled to give a better grip for the fingers, said handle portion being hollow to provide a tubular chamber ll therein, within which the styptic pencil I2 is mounted, 65 said pencil having a holder thereon comprising a plug portion l3 snugly fitting the bore II in the handle Hi to close the same, and a slightly enlarged portion ll of substantially the same external diameter as the handle ll, acting as a hand grip for the styptic pencil and finishing off the handle portion of the razor. Beads I! may be provided thereon, which are principally ornamental, but one of which serves as a stop member to limit the inward movement of the plug i3.

The handle portion i is provided with a reduced externally threaded end portion I9, having a partly spherical socket l'l formed in the end face thereof and providing a shoulder l9 between said reduced portion and the main body portion of the handle Hi. The frame or blade holder I9 has a ball member 20 fixed thereto, said ball member 20 being secured to the frame l9 by any suitable means, such as the stem 2|, integral with the ball 20, which non-rotatably fits in a bore in the frame l9 and is headed or riveted over at 22 to fixedly hold the same in position relative to the frame i9. Thus, the ball 20 projects from the under side of the frame and is fixed relative thereto.

Mounted on the ball 20 is a ball receiving socket member 23, said socket member having a tubular internally threaded portion 24, and a concavo-convex tapering end portion 25, forming a partially spherical socket 26 on the inner face of said socket member and being provided with a flaring opening 21 in the reduced end thereof, (see Fig. 8).

As will be evident from Fig. 4, the internally threaded portion 24 of the socket member 23 engages with the externally threaded portion iii of the holder i0, and the parts are so proportioned that the ball 20 will be clamped between the curved wall 29 of the socket member and the curved wall I! on the end of the reduced portion l6 of the handle when the socket member 23 is screwed down on the handle before the edge of the sleeve-like portion of said socket member engages with the shoulder ill on the handle. It will be obvious that the ball member 20 is assembled with the socket member 23 before the rivet or stem portion 26 is passed through the opening in the frame l9 and headed over. Thus the socket member 20 is permanently assembled with the head of the razor, as is the ball 20. The boss 28 on the under side of the blade holder or frame is provided with a partly spherical socket that receives the outer curved portion of the reduced end 25 of the socket member 23.

It will be evident from the above that the head or frame portion of the razor can be moved or tilted sidewise obliquely or forwardly or backwardly in any direction when the socket member 23 is unscrewed sufficiently from the handle ID to permit a universal tilting of the frame or holder relative to the handle, and that when the desired angular position of the frame or blade holder is obtained relative to the handle ill, the frame or head portion of the razor can be clamped in such position by again tightening up the threaded socket member 23 on the handle l0. This is very important as individual razor users regard different angular positions of the cutting edge relative to the handle, and different angular positions of the blade itself relative to the axis of the handle to be most desirable for shaving purposes, and no matter what the preference of the user of the razor may be any desired angle that is possible for shaving may be obtained both of the cutting edge relative to the handle and the blade itself relative to the axis of the handle.

While the general characteristics of the head portion of the blade holding portion of my razor are the same as in my copending application mentioned above, there are certain improvements made therein, which will be more specificallydescribed. The principal improvement in the head portion of the razor and also in the blade that cooperates therewith, is to provide a blade that has a maximum cutting edge and which can be so manipulated that part of the cutting edge will reach any part of the face or neck that has to be shaved. In order to accomplish this, the frame or blade holder is made of a tapering character in transverse dimension, being widest at the forward or cutting edge portion of the razor, and the blade is similarly made with its maximum transverse dimension at the cutting edge. Due to this improvement in the shape of the head of the razor and in the shape of the blade, it has been found desirable to make certain improvements in the holding means for the blade to assure accurate positioning of the blade relative to the handle or frame. It has also been found desirable to eliminate most of the side flanges from the handle to avoid any side projections beyond the side of the blade that might interfere with the cutting action or shaving action of the razor at diflicult to reach portions of the face.

My improved razor blade 29 is shown in Fig. 7 and is provided with a relatively short rear edge 30 and a re atively long front edge or cutting edge 3|, the side edges 32 and 33 of the blade diverging uniformly from the rear edge 30 to the front edge 3| to thus provide a blade with its maximum transverse dimension in the cutting edge 3|, the corners at the opposite ends of the cutting edge being between the forward edge and the side edges of the blade forming acute angles. In order to provide for the proper positioning of the blade relative to the corner protecting means and stop means provided on my improved frame member, slots 34 are provided in the blade, the same being preferably parallel and being spaced from the side edges 32 and 33 and extending substantially perpendicularly to the rear edge and cutting edge 3| of the blade.

My improved blade holder or frame is provided with a pair of ledges 35 corresponding to the ledges for receiving the blade thereon shown in my co-pending application above referred to, and is provided with the guard teeth 36 from which the cutting edge 3| of the blade is very slightly spaced, said guard teeth being widely spaced, and the cut-away portions 31 between the teeth being very deep so as to provide for the free passage for the soap, water or cut away hair between said teeth. The cuts made to form the spaces or openings 31 are made in such a manner that the bottom 38 thereof extend substantially parallel to the fiat portions or ledges 35 that re ceive the blade 29, and may be even slightly divergent from said ledges inwardly away from the forward edge of the razor, thus providing a passage that is no narrower at the rear portion thereof than the forward portion thereof, whereby the free passage of soap, hair and other matter into the wide space under the razor blade 29 is facilitated.

It will be noted upon reference to Figs. 3 and 5 that the frame is narrower at the rear portion thereof than at the forward portion thereof, corresponding substantially to the shape of the blade 29 in this respect. The ledges 35 run along under the side edges of the blade 29 to a point near the forward ends of said ledges where the same are cut away at 39 so that said ledges underlie the corners of the blade only where the undercut combined stop members and corner protecting members 40 are formed on the forward ends of said ledges. Thus there is no metal underlying the blade and in direct contact with the cutting edge portion thereof adjacent the stop members 40, and the blade is free to exert its cutting action up to the inner edges of the stop members ll.

The blade is moved into engagement with said stop members It by a sliding action along the ledges ll, produced by the pivoted lever ll engaging the rear edge of the blade, said lever having a lip portion 42 extending slightly over the top of the blade ll to provide a blade receiving transverse groove it in the lever 4i, said lever being pivoted at It and having a finger piece 45 projecting therefrom toward the handle for manipulation of the same.

A pair of guide projections 48 extend upwardly from the frame ll closely adjacent the ledges II, being formed on the upper portions of inward enlargements on the side flanges of the frame so as to leave the frame widely open between said side flanges. as is the case with the razor shown and described in my co-pending application above referred to. The projections II are located and project slightly above the upper surface of the blade I! when the blade is in position, the corn 1 thereof being rounded slightly and said projections having parallel side faces and curved end faces, as will be evident upon reference to Fig. 5.

The projections 48 fit the slots 34 closely, one side edge of one of the projections 4t fitting the corresponding side edge of the slot it closely, and the opposite edge of the other projection 4| engaging the corresponding side edge of the other slot it closely to thus positively fix the position of the blade laterally of the frame, so that the acute angle comers I! on the blade will not project laterally beyond the corner protecting members 40, preferably aligning exactly therewith, or being slightly inset relative to the extreme lateral side edges of the corner protecting portions 4.. As the lever ti is released to move the blade 2| forwardly, the blade will travel forwardly with the slotted portions, sliding along on the projcctions 40 until the forward corners of the blade strike the stop members 40. Thus the blade is exactly located by cooperation of the projections 48 and the members ll.

The blade 28 is inserted by merely laying the same in position on the upper face of the frame with the lever ll in retracted position. However, in order that the blade will properly be located to be engaged by the end 42 of the lever ll, it is necessary that the slotted portions of the blade be passed over the projections it. In order to facilitate the assembly of the blade with the projcctions 46, a pair of short obliquely extending ears 4! are provided projecting upwardly from the ledges 35 in the rear ends thereof, said ears 49 being arranged to converge toward the rear of the blade holder or frame, said cars 49 being spaced slightly further apart than the distance across the blade at the rear thereof so that these will not interfere in any way with the positioning of the blade by means of the projections 40, but serve merely as locating or preliminary guide means for the blade to aid the user in passing the projections over the blade. These will also prevent the use of an ordinary rectangular blade in my razor, which would not only defeat the purposes of the invention, but would be dangerous because the corners thereof would not be sure to be protected by the corner protecting means 40, the careless manufacture of such rectangular blades by unauthorized persons for use in my improved razor being dangerous to the user thereof because of the possibility of the corners being exposed. Furthermore the use of a blade that does not have its maximum transverse dimension at the cutting edge would defeat the purposes of the invention entirely, and would render the frame inefiective. and in order to assure the user of the full benefit of the invention it is very desirable to prevent the use of such ordinary rectangular blades with my razor.

While ordinarily it is not necessary to engage the blade with the fingers to remove the same, the blade must be engaged'with the fingers to place it in position, and preferably, the blade is placed in position by engaging the fingers with opposite portions of the side edges thereof. In order to facilitate such positioning of the blade and also to facilitate removal of the blade, should the same stick and not drop out by gravity by tilting of the razpr so as to have the blade positioned with its rear edge lowermost and its face downward relative to the handle, upon release of the holding lever H, the sides of the frame are slightly curved inwardly at 50 so that a short length of the side edge of the blade at each side of the razor extends beyond the frame so that the fingers can readily grip the same to move it into or out of position if this should be desired.

What I claim is:-

l. A razor blade having a body portion varying in width to provide one longitudinal edge on said blade materially longer than the other longitudinal edge thereof, the longer of said longitudinal edges being the cutting edge of said blade, said blade having guide slots therein extending substantially perpendicularly to said cutting edge.

2. In a razor, the combination with a blade holder having guard means thereon, of a blade having a cutting edge and tapering toward the rear edge thereof to provide acute angular corners on said blade at said cutting edge and having guide openings therein, means on said blade holder to protect said corners, and guide projections on said holder cooperating with said guide openings to locate said blade definitely relative to said corner protecting means.

3. In a razor, the combination with a blade holder having guard means thereon, of a blade having a cutting edge and tapering toward the rear edge thereof to provide acute angular corners on said blade at said cutting edge and having guide openings therein, means on said blade holder to protect said corners, guide projections on said holder cooperating with said guide openings to locate said blade definitely relative to said corner protecting means, and blade directing projections on said holder for directing said blade into cooperating relation with said guide projections as said blade is moved toward said blade holder.

4. In a razor, the combination with a blade holder having guard means thereon, of a blade having a cutting edge and tapering toward the rear edge thereof to provide acute angular corners on said blade at said cutting edge, means on said blade holder to protect said corners, cooperating guide means on said holder and said blade to locate the corners of said blade definitely relative to said comer protecting means, and means on said holder cooperating with the side edges of said blade to direct said guide means on said blade into cooperative relation to the guide means on said holder as said blade is moved into cooperative relation with said holder.

5. In a razor, the combination with a blade holder having guard means thereon, of a blade having a cutting edge and tapering toward the rear edge thereof to provide acute angular corners on said blade at said cutting edge and having elongated guide openings therein, means on said blade holder to protect said corners, elongated guide projections on said holder cooperating with said guide openings to locate said blade definitely relative to said corner protecting means, and obliquely extending blade directing projections on said holder for directing said blade into cooperating relation with said guide projections as said blade is moved toward said blade holder.

6. In a razor, the combination with a blade holder having guard means thereon, oi a blade having a cutting edge and tapering toward the rear edge thereof to provide acute angular corners on said blade at said cutting edge, said blade holder decreasing in width toward the rear there- 01'.

'I. In a razor, the combination with a blade holder having guard means thereon, or a blade having a cutting edge and tapering toward the rear edge thereoito provide acute angular corners on said blade at said cutting edge, said blade holder having a portion narrower than said blade, whereby the side edges of said blade project laterally beyond said holder at said portion to facilitate removal of said blade from said holder.

8. In a razor the combination with a tapering blade holder having guard means thereon, of a tapering blade supported by said holder, said blade holder having a portion narrower than said blade, whereby the side edges of said blade project laterally beyond said holder at said portion to facilitate removal of said blade from said holder.

MARSHAIL H. PAGE. 

